A pop-up clinic makes getting a COVID-19 vaccine more accessible. South Dakota Voices for Peace collaborated with South Dakota Urban Indian Health and SDSU Dairy Extension on a recent clinic at the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls.
Michaela Sieber is the CEO of South Dakota Urban Indian Health. She said getting out into the community was eye-opening.
“A lot of people were concerned about the side effects of vaccines, they'd heard some scary things. They were very anxious about that,” she said. “So, this was something they just drove by and saw and thought I'll give it a try. And we talked through the side effects with them.”
Sieber said accessibility was key.
“Another big thing was people were on their way to or from work, and they just saw us and stopped by,” she said. “And their shift work or their hours just didn't allow for them to maybe go across town to make an appointment. So this was just convenient.”
The clinic administered the one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Sieber said the groups plan to hold more walk-up clinics.
The state’s vaccination pace has slowed. About 53 percent of residents 12 and older are fully vaccinated. That figure has changed only two percentage points since the end of June.